62 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 16, 1888. 



THE ROCK CLIMBERS. 



Tin. — AT BED EAGLE LAKE. 



n^HE Rhymer and Jack had started with one pack 

 animal for Goat Mountain. There they were sure 

 at least that there was game, and though the weather 

 was cold and threatening, and ominous clouds hung low 

 over the mountains of the upper lake, they had gathered 

 together the few necessaries for a two or three days' trip, 

 and had ridden blithely away. 



Appekunny and Yo had intended to start the same day 

 for Red Eagle Lake, but they failed to get off in time to 

 make the lake that night, and the start was postponed 

 until the following morning. 



The next day, however, when they rose, the wind was 

 blowing furiously, and they hesitated about starting. On 

 the upper lake and on Singleshot it was snowing hard, 

 with a good prospect of a general storm, and still they 

 waited. By noon all the mountains were shrouded in 

 storm clouds, and soon it began to rain furiously at the 

 level of the lake. The men had made all snug for the 

 storm. Saddles, flour sacks, ropes and other loose articles 

 had been piled up under the lee of the brush and covered 

 up with blankets, so that they should be so far as possible 

 protected, guy ropes had been rim out from the ridge 

 pole of the tent in front and behind, so that their shelter 

 should resist the buffetings of the furious blasts that 

 rushed down the valley, and saddle blankets had been 

 laid about the tent on the windward side, so that there 

 should be no draft under the walls. Two or three good 

 sized quaking aspen logs had been brought in and cut 

 and split, and the wood piled in one corner of the tent 

 where it should keep thy. Then the men went inside, and 

 during the afternoon kept busy with book and pencil, 

 only now and then looking out at the storm. Through- 

 out the rest of the day the rain continued to fall, and the 

 wind howled down the lake, hissing through the trees, and 

 now and then pounding against the tent with a fury that 

 seemed irresistible. The horses and mules, which had 

 been turned loose with their picket ropes dragging, when 

 the storm set in, had taken shelter in a little opening in 

 the brush, where they were measurably protected from 

 the violence of the weather, and stood there quietly with 

 then- tails to the storm, too uncomfortable to move or 

 feed. 



As the shades of early twilight began to fall, the occu- 

 pants turned to and cooked their simple meal, and soon 

 after rolled themselves up in their blankets to sleep 

 quietly in spite of the howling gale. 



During the night the storm passed off, and the next 

 morning it was bright and pleasant. A high sea was 

 still running on the lake, but the weather was mild, and 

 the sun shone warm. Everything was wet, however, 

 and it was necessary to dry ropes and blankets before a 

 start could be made. When this had been done, two 

 days' bread, bacon, coffee and sugar were laid out, the 

 beds made up into side packs, and by noon Split Tongue, 

 the mule, was packed, the two horses saddled, and the 

 men moved out for Red Eagle Lake, leaving the camp- 

 for a while to take care of itself. 



Red Eagle Lake lies in a narrow valley between Red 

 Eagle and Kootenay Mountains, and so northeast of the 

 upper lake. But few white men have ever trodden its 

 shores. Beaver Bill has been there trapping, and last 

 summer the Messrs. Baring, with Appekunny and Jack 

 Bean, crossed over the point of Red Eagle Mountain from 

 the lake and caught a glimpse of its waters. The Koo- 

 tenays of old Back-in-sight's band go there every year, 

 however, to trap, and as the travelers followed the well- 

 defined trail which leads over the rolling hills and 

 among the spruces, up from the Inlet flat, they saw many 

 signs that these people had passed over this road dur- 

 ing the past summer. For about six miles the trail 

 crosses the foothills, and then follows Red Eagle Creek, 

 which flows into the Upper Lake a couple of miles above 

 the outlet. From this point on, it goes through the tim- 

 ber, and here were other signs of recent Indian passage; 

 fresh breaks in the bark of the trees where a corner of a 

 pack had bruised it; here and there a thread of red or 

 white worsted clinging to a tree in a narrow place in the 

 trail, showing where a rider's leg had rubbed against the 

 bark, and now and then a tuft of goat hair or wool 

 caught on a branch told that they had killed some meat 

 during their stay. 



About three miles before Red Eagle Lake is reached, 

 the trail becomes quite dim and hard to follow, and is 

 somewhat obstructed by down timber, necessitating fre- 

 quent detours. At length they crossed to the west side 

 of the creek, passed through some open timber into a 

 little park where there was a recent Kootenay camp, 

 through this park and through more timber to another 

 little park; the last below the lake, as they afterward 

 learned. On the upper side of this was a little group of 

 trees, the chief of which was a mighty spruce with widely 

 spreading branches, and under this the horses were 

 halted, saddles and packs taken off, and camp made. The 

 horses and mule were picketed in the little prairie, the 

 beds spread down together, under the spruce: a lot of 

 wood collected, and a fire started. There was still an 

 hour or two of daylight left, and the men went down to 

 the creek, which was but a few yards away, to try to 

 catch some fish. It is a rushing mountain torrent, in some I 



places 60 or 70ft. wide and shallow, and in others much 

 narrower but deep, and is an ideal trout stream, its green 

 hurrying waters looking as if they must give shelter to 

 trout in great numbers. A splendid pool was found; but 

 a number of casts failed to show the presence of any fish. 

 After a little, however, Appekunny, who had baited a 

 hook with a piece of bacon and thrown it into the deepest 

 part of the pool, holding the line in his hand, gave a wild 

 yell and rushed away from the shore followed by a fine 

 21b. trout, which did not stop until he was safely flapping 

 among the rounded pebbles on the bar, from which they 

 were fishing. Then a small fish rose to Yo's fly, and was 

 saved, but after that they declined to notice his cast. 

 Appekunny, however, presently caught another on his 

 hand line, and then Yo, putting a bit of bacon on one of 

 his flies, caught a fine fellow that made the supple rod 

 bend, and the line hum through the water in fine style. 

 Then, as it was becoming dusk they took their way to 

 camp, where trout, bread and coffee furnished them a 

 substantial and delicious meal. 



Early next morning they were afoot. The beds were 

 rolled up in the pack cover and laid close to the foot of 

 the big spruce, where they would be protected from pos- 

 sible rain or snow, and afterward, while one man got 

 breakfast, the other watered the animals and changed 

 them to fresh grass. A look at the point of Red Eagle 

 Mountain showed a single goat, browsing among the 

 precipices after the slow manner of these animals. It 

 was impractical to climb the mountain at this point, and 

 they thought it best to go first to the lake shore and take 

 a wider view of the mountains from there. It was but a 

 short half mile from their camp to where the stream left 

 the lake, and they were soon sitting on the. beach sweep- 

 ing the mountains with the glass. The lake is a beautiful 

 body of water perhaps a mile long by three-quarters 

 wide. On either side the mountains hem it in. Their 

 steep sides, timber-covered for only a short distance from 

 their bases, rise steeply and soon break into a series of step- 

 like ledges, which render hunting difficult, as the view 

 above and below is very circumscribed. The valley above 

 the lake is very narrow and is walled in by mountains 

 that rise still more sharply than do those above the lake. 



Far off on the mountain side, beyond a deep gorge 

 which leads down from one of the basins lying between 

 Red Eagle and the one next south of it, a goat was seen 

 and watched for a little while, in the hope that lie would 

 lie down. He kept moving, however, and at length the 

 hunters, after having marked him as carefully as possi- 

 ble, started up the slope to try to reach him. They 

 climbed up the slide rock near the mouth of the lake and 

 worked along the mountain south, passing through the 

 cold, snow-filled basin, beyond which the goat had been 

 seen, and hunting faithfully in all the likeliest spots. 

 Tracks were plenty, and some of them fresh, but they 

 neither found the animal they had been after, nor saw 

 any other, until just about three o'clock, when as they 

 were descending the mountain two goats were discovered 

 far off across the valley, and well up on the mountain 

 side. It was much too late to attempt to reach them that 

 evening. Descending into the stream valley, they crossed 

 it, and after a little came out on the shore of the lake, 

 which they followed toward camp. Here were seen the 

 tracks of a two-year-old moose, and also those of a white 

 man, who could be no other than Beaver Bill. 



They were plodding wearily campward in single file, 

 when Yo called out to Appekunny, who was a few steps 

 in advance of him,"Hold on a minute, Appekunny, while 

 I swear," and as his companion turned and looked back 

 at him, he pointed across the lake, where, high upon the 

 mountain and within 200yds. of where they had passed 

 along, two goats could be seen placidly feeding. No 

 lang'uage could quite do justice to the subject, so little 

 was said, but from the determined look on then; faces as 

 they started on toward camp it might have been inferred 

 that the outlook for these two goats was not a pleasant 

 one. 



When they reached camp, there was a little daylight 

 left, and they hurried down to the stream, where they 

 caught three more trout. The night was cold and it was 

 raining a little, and the fish manifested no disposition to 

 take hold. One of those caught this evening was a bull 

 trout, while all the others taken here had been the red- 

 throated species (Salvelinus purpuratus). 



It was still raining a little the next morning, when 

 shortly after sunrise the two men were on the shores of 

 the lake. They at once espied the two goats in the same 

 spot which they had occupied the night before. After 

 waiting an hour, first one and then the other lay down, 

 and then having taken careful note of all their surround- 

 ings, the hunters started up the mountain side. The 

 climbing was very steep and hard, for the rain had made 

 everything wet and slippery, so that falls and slips back- 

 ward were quite the order of the day. At length , how- 

 ever, they reached the ledge on which the animals were 

 supposed to be lying, but after working along it nearly 

 to the end of the mountain without seeing anything, it 

 was decided that they must be lower down. The men 

 therefore went back and clambered down two ledges to 

 one whose summit when they reached it looked much 

 more like that on which the goats had been seen. They 

 went along carefully and slowly, feeling now quite sure 



that they were on the right track. Presently they passed I 

 around a point of rocks, and as Yo inch by inch raised 

 his head to look over a little ridge before him, he saw a 

 small goat lying down on a point of rocks about- 75y da, 

 distant. It was broadside to, and had one foreleg doubled 

 up under it, the other being stretched out before it. Tts 

 eyes were closed and it seemed to be asleep. 



From its position, with regard to the surrounding rocks, 

 it appeared that this'was the higher of the two animals 

 which had been seen to lie down. The other was not 

 visible. Without a moment's delay, Yo fired, and the , 

 goat sprang to its feet and made a step forward, which 

 took it out of sight behind a great rock, and as it disap- 

 peared Appekunny called out, "Look, below you, at the 

 other." Turning his eyes to the left, Yo saw standing on 

 the edge of a grassy spot, and close to the timber, its tail 

 toward him, and its head turned back over its shoulder, 

 another and larger goat. Again the report rang out, and 

 as the ball struck it, the animal leaped high in the air, so 

 that it almost seemed as if it were going to turn a back 

 somersault, showing far more agility than one would 

 have expected from a goat. It came down on its feet, 

 however, and with a single bound disappeared in the 

 brush below it. "Good," said Appekunny, "you've got 

 that one, anyhow. He's going down hill." 



"I never saw any animal jump in that way," answered 

 Yo, "except on receiving a fatal wound." 



Meantime, the other goat had reappeared and was 

 slowly walking up the hill, and a bloody smear upon its 

 breast showed that it had been hit. It had only 15 or 

 20ft. to walk before gaining the shelter of the timber, 

 and in going that distance it ought to have been killed. 

 But it was not to be. The cartridge in the gun proved to 

 be defective, and after snapping it three times it was 

 thrown out, and another substituted just as the animal 

 reached the timber. Th*e last shot struck it, but too far 

 back to be at once fatal. They hurried after it, and took 1 

 the track up the hill, but on it went, walking straight up 

 the steepest places and through the thickest brash, bleed- 

 ing a little, but continuing its slow advance without in- 

 terruption. At length it entered an almost impenetrable 

 thicket of low twisted spruces, which grew on the steep- 

 est part of a very steej) ledge, and here the tired men 

 gave up the chase and started down the hill to look for 

 the other goat. It was by no means certain that they 

 Would find it. They had already lost one wounded ani- 

 mal and there was no definite proof that the second was 

 any harder hit than the first had been, though from its 

 actions it was believed that its wound was mortal. 



On reaching the level on which the goat had stood Ij 

 when shot at, the men separated, Appekunny going down ( 

 the slope to cross the track, if the animal had gone diag- < 

 onally down the slope, while Yo turned to the right and 

 went to where it had stood when he fired, so as to take \ 

 the trail from the beginning. On reaching the spot he [ \ 

 found the grass plentifully besprinkled with blood, and ! 

 almost at the same moment a shout from Appekunny j 

 told that he had struck the trail. All along the track 

 the blood was scattered on the ground a3 if it had been 

 thrown down by teacupfuls, and as they went down the 

 hill side by side there was a continuous thick blood trail 

 which assured them that the game could not have gone 

 far. There was no mistake about where the ball had 

 gone, for the blood was bright and sometimes frothy, 

 and now and then a little piece of the lung was seen on the 

 grass. So they followed it straight down the slope, through 

 timber, over grassy spots and down the ledges for about 

 100yds, and there at the bottom of a broken precipice 

 50 or 60ft. in height, they saw the goat, dead. It was a 

 female, two years old, and like the previous capture had 

 never bred. 



The animal was in very fine condition, and they saved 

 the whole of it. While preparing it for transportation to 

 camp, they were greatly annoyed by the elk gnats which 

 were biting viciously, and yet it was very cold and snow- 

 ing. At length they were ready to start, and Appekunny 

 as usual led the way with the hide, head and shoulders, 

 while Yo followed with the hams and saddles and a bag 

 containing the heart, liver and ten or fifteen pounds of 

 tallow. The loads were heavy enough to make them glad 

 to rest at frequent intervals, but the way down was not 

 difficult, for they followed the side of a deep gorge, and 

 on the step-like projections of rock on its rough shoulder, 

 the walking, though steep, was comparatively easy. 

 They made good time along the lake shore, crossed the 

 creek, where it left the lake, on a primitive bridge, 

 formed of two drift logs thrown across it, and plunged 

 into the timber on the other side. 



By this time Yo's load had become very heavy, and he 

 made but slow time through the down timber and over 

 the rocky undulations of the valley. He was glad 

 enough to hear, while still some distance from camp, the 

 furious barkings with which the little dogs saluted Appe- 

 kunny as he emerged from the forest near camp, and a 

 little later to be greeted by the same hostile demonstra- 

 tions as his own bent figure, bowed down under its load 

 of meat, came in sight. The h'ttle guardians of the camp 

 had all the goat flesh they could eat that night, and the 

 hungry hunters also feasted on fat meat. The bread 

 allowance was very short, however, and the next morn- 

 ing's meal would consist of meat and coffee. 



